The Order of Lorien

As per the council of Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn, the Galadhrim Guard organization shall be recast into the image of old, the firstborn champions of Gondolin. The changes in all their detail are as follows:

1. To all Quendi, the Galadhrim Guard organization shall be known as the Order of the Galadhrim, or the Order of Lorien. Humans and other outsiders will surely know us still as the Galadhrim Guard.

2. The Order will be separated into three distinct branches. These different branches will have different responsibilties with regard to the military posture of Lorien.

3. Each of these branches will have ranks within them. Progression through the echelons begins with the first branch and its ranks, then to the second branch and its ranks, and so on.

Question guards often ask and Members of the Order of Lorien

The Three Regiments.

The Order of Lorien is divided into three forces, or branches, which are:

The Gweth Tarn, or Regiment of the Gate, is the the lowest of the three branches. The Gweth Tarn' s duties are to guard the borders and woods of Lorien and its people. Though they rarely patrol beyond the eves of the Golden Wood, they may march to war if called upon to do so. Those of the Gweth Tarn shall be known by the wearing of a gray cloak and cowl.

The Gweth Mellyrn, or, Regiment of the Mallorns, is the second order. Their duty is to patrol outside the borders, keeping them clean of yrch and other evils, and leading aright those travelers that have strayed too near our land. They shall be known by a cowl of black.

The Gweth Gilith is the third and highest of the orders. The members of the Regiment of Starlight shall be the most skilled and able warriors as they are Lorien's Champions of Arms. They shall also act as the representatives of Caras Galadhon to other lands, its most capable scouts, and personal guard to the Lord and Lady. Their garb is a white cowl and elfstones of white worn upon their brows.

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Ranks

When an elf, or edhel, joins the Order of Lorien, she or he shall begin in the lowest ranking regiment, the Gweth Tarn. With experience and advancement, the gothweg (warrior) will progress through the regiments within the following ranking system:

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Questions guards often ask (taken from the +Elf FAQ)

1. When should I salute senior officers?

2. Should I +mail IC messages or use the messageboard in the MGT?

3. What should I post on the MGT messageboard?

4. What's the story on the guard telain across the river?

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When should I salute senior officers?

A salute is a formal gesture indicating that you are listening and ready to take orders, and also an acknowledging gesture roughly equivalent to "Yes sir!", indicating your recognition of new orders or dismissal. Normally, when coming upon a senior officer while on duty, you would salute them. If there are multiple officers in the room, you'd salute the most senior one. Exceptions:

• If there are other senior officers with you, you'd defer to them. A whole crowd of people doesn't need to get into a saluting fest. When two groups meet, the senior officer in each group can handle the formalities.

• If you are just involved in your normal duties at a location, and continually in the vicinity of the officer, you don't need to keep saluting them every time you pass them. A salute isn't a simple greeting; it's a formal acknowledgement that you are ready and waiting for orders. You wouldn't just drop whatever you are doing and salute someone, unless it's obvious that they have some information or task for you and wish to speak to you. Conversely, if you approached an officer and wanted their attention, you'd stand before them and salute as a means of getting their attention - except that if they are already obviously busy you'd just stand at attention and wait for them to acknowledge you.

• As an extension of the above: when you are travelling with a group of guards, especially on a long trip, you don't need to make a big point of saluting your officers every time you log on - ICly, you have been with them the whole time as you travelled.

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Should I +mail IC messages or use the messageboard in the MGT?

There's no formal requirement that you use either method. The answer may depend entirely on the nature of your message. The messageboard was created as an alternative to using +mail, for a variety of reasons:

• If you mail to a large group like LORIEN_ORDER, your message will stay around in the database until everyone has read it and discarded it. Since some players are inactive or have left Elendor, this can be quite a while!

• If you mail to a group like LORIEN_ORDER, and someone hasn't been around a while, then when they log in they'll find lots of obsolete +mail which they'll have to wade through.

• The messageboard in the MGT has more of an "IC" feel to it.

• ANYONE can delete messages from the MGT messageboard - just like anyone could pull down a notice from a corkboard in real life. Players should make a point of removing obviously obsolete messages. Think twice though before removing a message which a senior officer posted.

• The messageboard actually has better editing facilities than +MAIL.

The downside to the messageboard is that you actually have to go to the MGT to read it. This is more IC, but admittedly something of a nuisance.

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What should I post on the MGT messageboard?

Anything which is of interest to the guards. Ideally your messages will all be of an IC nature, but if you have anything important to OOCly relate, that's OK too.

The following sorts of things ought to be posted, and are particularly good candidates for messageboard messages instead of +mail messages:

• Major IC events - like an orc raiding party camping on our borders.

• The arrival or departure of guests.

• The capture or release of prisoners.

Note the last two items! The guards are supposed to know what's going on in the wood, and should always know exactly who is in Lorien who isn't a Galadhrim.

You don't necessarily need to post small fights, such as random encounters with a lone passing orc. You can if you want, but these are more or less part of our daily life, and not very noteworthy. If you just bumped into a newbie orc who was roaming too far from home, it's probably not worth it. If it's a serious encounter though, then please do! Anything to enhance the IC atmosphere and let the other players know what's going on!

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What's the story on the guard telain across the river?

The three telain on the far side of the Celebrant river (across the river from the Naith), are special hidden "spyposts" where we can watch passersby without them being aware of us.

The telain are well hidden: no one but an elf would ever notice them hidden in the trees. Don't give them away. If trespassers show up, move to one of the other telain and drop to the ground where no one is watching, then come up behind the "guests".

Although most any elf would probably notice the telain with their sharp senses, any non-Galadhrim which climbed up into one without first being invited would likely meet with a rather cold reception when found, unless they could offer a good explanation for what they were doing there.

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